Railroad-ticket



(No Model.)

A. I. BLANCHARD. RAILROAD '.lI-CK-FT.4

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Patented. Sept. 29, 1896.

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RAILROAD TICKET.

Patented Sept. 29, 1896. f' af JJ me Noms mais co, mou-umm wltsmnnmu. u. cA

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALLEN` I. BLANCHARD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILROAD-TICKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentvNo. 568,399, dated September 29, 1896.

Application tiled May 8, 1893. Serial No. 473,346. (No lmodel.)

[0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLEN I. BLANCHARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railroad-Tickets, of which the followin gis a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

Myinvention relates to that class of tickets which are formed from blanks having the names of a series ot' stations printed in du,- plicate upon them in two parallel adjacent columns, and which are adapted to be so torn in two or otherwise separated longitudinally of said columns as to form a stub and a ticket portion proper, each portion having upon itin whole or in part one of the columns of names and having the name Vof the destination station indicated by a notch or projection on the margin of the ticket opposite such name. rlhe name of the starting station or station from which the ticket is sold is written or printed upon the body of the ticket, so that when the ticket is issued it reads :from such station to the particular station indicated by the notch or projection on the margin of the ticket. The separation of the ticket-blank into stub portion and ticket portion proper, with the destination station indicated upon each in the above manner, has generally been effected by tearing the blank in two against a ruler or tearing-blade having a lateral projection which forms a notch in the margin of one portion of the ticket and a corresponding projection` upon the other portion. By placing the ticket-blank beneath the ruler or tearingblade in such position that the projection upon the latter will overlie the name of the station to which the ticket is to read (the destination station) and then tearing the ticket in two along the edge of the ruler a projection is formed upon the edge of one portion of the ticket opposite such name and a notch upon the other portion of the ticket opposite the duplicate name upon the latter.

`It has been found that where the blank is divided upon a single straight line between the two columns of names, interrupted simply bythe point or projection opposite the destination station, the ticket is not suflicientlyprotected, either against accidental mutilation or fraudulent manipulation. The projection upon the one portion of the ticket is liable to be accidentally torn off, or purposely removed, in which event it is not possible to tell to what station the ticket originally read. So, too, it has been found that the simple notch opposite the destination station upon the otherv portion of the ticket can be so filled up as to escape observation and a new notch be torn in the ticket opposite anotherstation, so that dishonest agents may in this manner, and by collusion with the train-conductors or otherwise, be enabled to defraud the company. In one form of tickets of this class an attempt has been made to overcome these objections by separating the ticket-blank upon two intersecting lines, instead of a single straight line, the two lines kmeeting each other at a very obtuse angle and the projection which indicates the destination station bein g formed at their junction, so that if the projection be torn off the original destination station may be determined by prolon gin g the lines of the margin of the ticket to their point ot' intersection ,which will be opposite the name of such station. In such tickets, owing to the separation of the stub portion from the ticket portion proper upon the intersectin g lines, the names of all the stations excepting the destination station are either partly or wholly removed from one portion of the ticket and left upon the other. This is objectionable, for the reason, among others, that the names of the stations are generally printed upon the ticket in the regular order of the positions they occupy along the line of road, so that if the naine of the destination station should accidentally be mutilated or purposely changed it may nevertheless be readily identified by the names of the stations adjacent to it in the column upon the ticket;

but if the names of all the stations excepting the destination station be partly or wholly removed from one portion of the ticket, asin the form of ticket above described, then the naine of the destination station itself may be erased and the name of another station inserted without nearly so much risk of de- IOO tection as where the names of the adjacent stations remain in regular order upon the ticket. For this and other reasons such tickets fail to effectually prevent fraudulent manipulations.

It is the object of my invention te produce a ticket which will be free from objections to former ones and proof against fraudulent manipulation of any kind, and this l accomplish chiefiy by my novel method of indicating the destination station, which consists in so separating the ticket-blank as to form upon the margin of one portion ofthe ticket, preferably upon the passengers portion or ticket proper, two adj acent notches, one upon either side of the name of the destination station, ywith an intermediate projection opposite such name, and upon the margin of the other portion or stub two adjacent projections, one upon each side of the name of the destination station, with an intermediate notch between them opposite such name. l My invention also relates to the production of a round-trip or return ticket of the saine character as the one-way ticket heretofore described; that is to say, a round-trip ticket in which the name of the destination station is indicated upon both the going portions and return portions of the ticket and upon the st ub by notches or projections along the mar gins of said three portions opposite the name of the destination station; and in my improved ticket the notches and projections upon all three portions of the ticket are formed at the same time and by the saine act, so that a round-trip ticket may be issued about as easily and quickly as a one-way ticket.

My invention also relates to other features of novelty tending to the prevention of fraudulent manipulation and to convenience in use, all as will be hereinafter set forth, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

`In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows the ticket-blank from which my new ticket is formed. Fig. 2 shows said blank separated into the stub portion and passengers portion, the latter having the date-limi tations punched in it and also being punched to indicate the checking of baggage. Fig. 3 shows the ruler or tearing-blade by means of which the blank of Fig. l is separated into the portions shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows a blank for a round-trip ticket, and Fig. 5 a roundtrip ticket and stub formed from the blank of Fig. li.

The same letters of reference indicate idcn- .tical parts in all the figures.

blank, and preferably separated by a heavy black line C. The numbers of the stations are also preferably printed upon the blank immediately in front of the names of the respective stations in one or both columns. At

the lower ends of the columns et' stationnames are a series of names indicating the different classes for which the ticket may be issued, such as Clergy, Half-fare, Second-elass,7 and so on. i In addition to the columns of station-names and classes the stub portion of' the ticket bears the usual printed matter, and also the words From to station opposite notch.7 The blank space in the line quoted is for theinsertion of the name of the selling-station. This maybe stamped or written in the blank space by the agent selling the ticket, but in the tickets for sale at the more important stations upon the line of road the name of the sellin r-station will be generally printed upon the ticket either at the same time the ticket is printed or at some other time before the supply of tickets is delivered to the ticket-agent for use. The passengers portion B of the blank also bears the usual printed matter in `addition to the column of station-names and classes and the words From to station indicated on tongue between notches in margin, the blank space being for the insertion ot' the name of the selling-station in the same manner as above.

The ruler or tearing-blade by which the blank shown in Fig. l is separated into the stub and passengers portions shown in Fig. 2 is illustrated in Fig. 3, where it will be seen that one edge of the blade is provided with two laterally-projecting points D E with an intermediate notch F. Upon placing this blade over the blank shown in Fig. l, with the right-hand edge of the blade between the two parallel columns oli' station-names and with the notch F embracing the first letter of the name of the desired destination station, and then pressing the blade tightly against the blank and bringing the portion B of the ticket firmly to vertical position against the edge of the blade, two notches will be torn in the portion B of the ticket at opposite sides of and immediately adjacent to the name of the destination station, and the latter name will remain immediately opposite and partly upon the projection formed by said notches. It is apparent that the projection thus formed is completely housed between the notches and lies within the marginal line of the coupon, and is therefore less liable to accidental niutilation. If no special class is to be indicated, as will generally be the case where the ticket is a first-class one, the passenger-s portion B may now be completely severed from the stub portion A along the edge of the blade. If, however, the name of the class is to be indi cated, the ticket-blank, after the portion. B has been drawn to vertical position to indicate the destination station, will be torn in two along the edge of the blade from the up per edge of the ticket to a point below the name of the destination station, and the blank will then be slid along under the blade or the blade moved over the blank until the notch F in the blade is opposite the class to be indicated, whereupon the portion B of the blank will be again drawn to Vertical position to tear notches in the blank upon oppo- IOO XIO

j 568,399 l e site sides of the name of the class, and the blank will then be completely severed against the edge of the blade to form the stub portion and passengers portion shown in Fig. 2. The notches and intermediate projection upon the margin of the passengers portion of the ticket will leave counterpart projections and an intermediate notch upon the stub portion, and the name which stands opposite this notch upon the stub portion will indicate the name of the station for which the ticket was sold.

As before stated, tickets of this class have heretofore been formed by tearing the blank in two against a blade having `a single projection, such as D or E, so that a single notch would be formed in one portion of the ticket and a single projection upon the other. As also explained before, the projection was liable to be torn off the one portion of the ticket, and lthe notch could be skilfully filled up upon the other portion of the ticket, causing in the one case confusion and uncertainty, if nothing more, and in the other enabling the ticket to be fraudulently manipulated.

From the foregoing description of my invention it will be seen thatthe name ofthe destination station upon the passengers portion-of the ticket is so thoroughly and permanently indicated by the notches upon the opposite sides of it that alteration or fraudulent manipulation of this portion of the ticket is practically impossible. Even if the projection between the notches be torn off the name of the destination station may still be determined by said notches, and the portion of the margin of the ticket torn away is so large that it is not practicable to replace it without detection even by skilful work. On the other hand, the portion of the passengers part of the ticket which is left adhering to the stub portion of the ticket, carrying the two projections with the intermediate notch, is so large that its removal and the attaching of a corresponding portion at some other point along the margin of the stub is also practically impossible. It will therefore be seen that my novel method of separating the ticket upon a line which forms not only a projection opposite the destination station, as heretofore, but also forms two deep notches upon each side of such name, produces both a stub and a ticket proper, which are not liable to accidental mutilation and which are not susceptible of fraudulent manipulation.

It will be understood that it is not essential to my present invention, any more than it has been essential in the tickets of this class heretofore in use, that there should be two duplicate series or columns of station-names, since a column containing simply the numbers of the stations may be printed upon the stub portion of the blank opposite the names of the corresponding stations upon the passengers portion, the notch in the margin of the stub portion opposite a given number thereon serving to indicate the station for which the ticket was sold; but it is preferable'to provide two duplicate series of station-names, and also to number the stations in one or both columns.

While, as before stated, it has heretofore been common in this class of tickets to indicate the destination station by a notch or pro- Y a ticket having the names of the different classes printed in the same columns as the station-names and having the particular class for which the ticket is issued indicated by a notch or projection on the margin of the passengers portion of the ticket, and this without regard to the form of the notch or projection, so that this particular feat-ure of my invention is not restricted to the division of the ticket upon a line which will form two notches and an intermediate projection adjacent the name of the destination station, as heretofore described.

' The blank for the round-trip ticket shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is composed of the stub portion A', the going portion B', and the return portion C. The stub portion A is or may be substantially the same as the stub portion A of the one-way ticket shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The portion C adjacent to the stub forms the return portion of the ticket, instead of the going portion, as in the one-way ticket. It corresponds substantially to the portion B of the one-way ticket, eXceptin g that it preferably bears some wording to indicate that it is a return ticket or coupon, and the station indicated by the notch or projection upon its margin becomes the starting station and the original starting station becomes the destination station, so that the ticket reads VFrom station indicated on tongue between notches in margin to This blank space will be iilled in in the same manner and at the same time as the original starting station upon the stub and going portions, as heretofore de scribed.

The going portion B' of the ticket is preferably separated from the return portion C by. an indented or perforated line Dto facilitate the folding of the portion B beneath the portion C and its subsequent separation from such portion during the going-passage. The going portion B is provided with a duplicate series of station-names, the names in this instance-being printed in reverse positions to those upon the stub vand return portions of the ticket, but in the same order from top to bottom of the ticket-blank. The portion C is of such width that when it is IOO IIO

folded beneath the portion B the names of the corresponding stations upon the `two portions will exactly register with each other, so that if the folded ticket be placed beneath the cutter and the portion B severed from the stub portion in the manner heretofore described the right-hand margin of the portion C' will be torn off at the same time, and notches and projections formed upon the edges of the ticket, the same as upon the lefthand margin of the portion B', as will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 5. rlhe purpose of printing the station-naines in reverse positions upon the going portion B/ of the ticket is to cause the name of the desiination station to be indicated by notches and project-ions upon the left-hand margin of the ticket when it is issued, the same as upon the margin of the portion C', the ticket being turned upside down from the position shown in Fig. 5 when it is taken in hand for use. Inasmueh as the destin ation stations upon all one-way tickets are indicated by notches and projections upon the left-hand margin of the ticket it is desirable that they shall be so indicated upon each portion of a round-trip ticket; but it is evident that the names upon the portion B' of the round-trip ticket might be printed in the same order and position as the names upon the stub and portion B, in which case the notches and projections indicating the station upon the going portion of the ticket would be on the right-hand margin of it instead of the left hand.

The going portion B bears the words From to station indicated on tongue between notches in margin, the same as does the going portion of the one-way ticket.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that by simply folding the portion B of the round-trip ticket beneath the portion C', and then severing them from the stub portion A in the same manner that the stub and ticket proper of the one-way ticket were separated, the going and return portions of the round-trip ticket are simultaneously formed, and it is made as diieult to change the name of a station upon one portion of the ticket as it is upon the other.

I am aware that round-trip tickets having the stub and going and return portions arranged in the same relative positions as in my improved ticket, and in which the return lportion of the ticket is separated from the stub portion upon a line which forms a notch or projection in the margin of the return portion of the ticket opposite the original destination station, are old, but in none of such tickets with which I am familiar is the destination station upon the going portion of the ticket indicated by a notch or projection on the margin of the ticket. On the contrary, in such tickets the going portion of the ticket is not provided with the names of the series of destination stations at all, and usually bears simply some such words as From to station indicated in the margin, meaning the station indicated in the margin of the return portion of the ticket, and the blank space being adapted to have the name of the original starting station stamped or printed in it. The result is that in tickets of this class there is nothing whatever upon the going portion of the ticket, after it has been detached from the return portion, to indicate what the original destination station was. The going portion of the ticket, of itself, indicates nothing, and the destination station for which it was sold can only be determined by comparing the number of the ticket with the number of the stub. It will be readily seen that this gives great opportunity for fraudulent manipulation of tickets of this class, which manipulation, however, is rendered impossible in my improved ticket by the provision of the series of station-namesupon the going portion of the ticket and the indication of the destination station'by the notch or projection on the margin of such going portion in the same manner as `upon the going portion of a oneway ticket.

It will be understood from the above that the novelty of myimproved round-trip ticket does not depend upon the indication of the station-names by the double notches and intermediate projections, though this feature of my invention is as valuable upon a roundtrip ticket as upon a one-Way ticket. This feature of my invention contemplates, broadly, the roundtrip ticket having the names of the series of stations printed upon both the going and return portions of the ticket and having the name of the original destination station indicated upon both the going and return portions by any sort of notches or projections upon the margin of such portions.

The going portion in the one-way ticket and the return portion in the round-trip ticket are provided adjacent one edge with a series of abbreviations of the names of the different months of the year, a series of numbers indicating the different days of the month, and another series of numbers indicating the different years, adapted to be punched to indicate the date-limitation of the ticket, as is usual in this and other classes of tickets. The going portion of the one-way ticket and both the going and return portions of the roundtrip ticket are provided with special spaces at G for the punching of the ticket to indicate the checking of baggage, such spaces having printed upon them directions to punch for that purpose in those spaces and in those spaces only. The provision of these special spaces for the baggage-punch prevents obliteration of the date-limitation punches by means of a baggage-punch and the fraudulent :manipulation of t-he date-limitation of the ticket by the punching of new date-numbers in it, as heretofore sometimes practiced.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claiml. A railroad-ticket havin g printed thereon a series of marks, indicating stations, and IOO ITO

having a projection at its edge opposite a predetermined one of such marks, and indentations on either side of said projection, substantially as described.

2. A railway-ticket having printed thereon a series of marks indicating stations and having a projection at its edge opposite a predetermined one of such marks, said projection being Wholly Within the line of the main part of its edge, and indentations on either side of the said projection, substantially as described.

3. A railway-ticket having a series of station names and class characters printed thereon and having projections at its edge opposite a predetermined station-name and class-character, said name and character being printed partly on said projections, and indentations on either side of said projections, substantially as described.

4. A round-trip railway-ticket comprising a going-coupon and a return-coupon having printed thereon a series of station-names, and having projections formed at their edges opposite predetermined station-names, and indentations on either side of said projections, substantially as described. I

5. A round-trip railway-ticket comprising a going-coupon and a return-coupon having corresponding station-names printed thereon in reverse order, projections formed at the edges of said coupon portions opposite a predetermined station-name and Within the line of the main part of the edges, andl indentations on either side of said projections, substantially as described.

ALLEN I. BLANCHARD. Y

Witnesses:

EDWARD RECTOR, MARTIN H. OLsEN. 

